Business Ethics Capitalism and competitive markets are often considered the most efficient system of simultaneously maximizing private wealth and public good. In the real world, however, truly competitive markets do not exist.   Imperfect markets have been made to work efficiently while protecting public good through systems of public intervention, i.e., laws and regulations, and voluntary self-restraint by business organizations in response to societal expectations. In this class we will consider the role of ethics in business, with students analyzing the process by which ethical norms and strongly held moral beliefs guide the conduct of economically driven business organizations.  Students will reflect on business managers’ responsibility to their owners, i.e., shareholders, other stakeholders, and society-at-large.

Public Management: Creating Public Value In this course, we will learn how a public administrator/manager is qualitatively different from a manager in the private sector and the nonprofit sector.  We will first survey the core foundations, principles, and readings of the field of public administration and public management. Students will then acquire and develop their own public manager’s toolbox which includes an introduction to goal setting and accountability, financial stewardship of public assets, policy system analysis, quantitative policy modeling techniques, and market failures. Students will also engage with International public administration/management readings and examples. Class discussion, case studies, short lectures, individual research projects, and oral presentations will inform students’ learning experiences.

Corporate Governance In this reading intensive seminar students will explore how institutions and leaders create value for their internal and external constituents by examining corporate governance and its respective nomenclatures. Corporate governance involves the set of policies, processes, and customs by which an institution is directed.  This course engages with questions such as: a) What do investors want? What do they worry about in relation to corporate (board) decisions? b) What is the chief aim of the firm in the eyes of the law, boards and investors? c) What governance modules are helpful in creating value and making sure value accrues to the investors? d) What countries provide superior governance arrangements that allow entrepreneurs to fund-raise money to realize profitable projects? e) How should managers be incentivized and compensated?

Minding Business: Neuroscience and Business In this seminar, we will explore the potentiality of building better businesses through brain science.  We will investigate the field of neuroscience and business.  Falling under the penumbra of organizational behavior and management science, this course will focus on the following five key areas: ethical, legal, and philosophical concepts of neuroscience in commerce and technology, group and team-based leadership chemistry and dynamics enhanced by neuroscience, neuroeconomics, neuromarketing, and lastly brain science and the humanities.  Class discussion, short lectures, individual research projects, and oral presentations will inform student learning experience.

Finance, Regulation, and Policy With recent financial scandals and crises, an important question is whether the finance industry should be regulated and should undergo further policy reforms. Many scholars and policy experts contend that the current system is simply not designed to make policy choices on behalf of the public. In this course we will explore current financial innovations (e.g., mutual funds, hedge funds, securitizations, cryptocurrencies, just to name a few) and potential policy options in order to protect “Main Street” from “Wall Street”. Additionally, we will explore the manner in which modern finance has grown out of powerful theories, both mathematical and psychological.

Management, Enterprise, and Business What does it mean to lead or manage a business, non-profit or any other enterprise, and how does one go about doing it?  Drawing on different management theories, this course will explore games and "tactics" deployed by organizations.  We will leverage basic industrial organization frameworks from economics (eg. hold-outs, switch costs, network effects, economies of scope, etc) to decipher organizational behavior.  In addition, we will review case studies of organizations facing serious management challenges and explore how those challenges could be addressed (INTD0120 or by waiver).

Anthropology of Global Corporations Multinational corporations have become pervasive in the 21st Century global economy. No other social organization matches their ability to increase productivity and multiply wealth. Nor does any other social vehicle match their power to destabilize preexisting relationships. In this course we will learn about the anthropology of exchange and capitalism through ethnographies of corporations, corporate social responsibility, factory production, and financial speculation in the U.S., China, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea. We will also evaluate social-justice critiques of corporate structures: are they meritocracies or exclusionary kin-based networks? Do they build community or merely offload costs? For the final project, students will have the option of doing ethnographic research on a for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise. 3 hours, lct/disc,

Big Business, Big Data, & Big Obligations In this course we will examine the cultural, economic, ethical, and legal implications of, analytics, big data, and computation. Drawing on various disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, students will read works relating to the science of data collection, aggregation, and analysis.  Students will learn that with opportunities for both financial gain and social good (which big data brings) comes various perils, including privacy violations, disability/gender/racial discrimination, economic disruption, negative environmental spillovers, and political destabilization.

Capitalism & Its Criticisms In this course we will explore the concept of capitalism and how it carries variegated meanings, which spans a wide range of societies and differing relationships between economic, political, and civic institutions within them. Students will have the opportunity to examine various forms and perspectives of capitalism which include contraband capitalism, racial capitalism, gendered capitalism, and scientific capitalism. We will also track how conceptions of capitalism have changed over time and globally. Primary and secondary works from the field of history, law, economics, philosophy, religion, and sociology will be incorporated to carry out the goal of the course which is to provide tools and perspectives that help students engage thoughtfully in these debates and to extend them into application in their own roles as engaged citizen, corporate, nonprofit, public, and entrepreneurial leaders.

Advanced Topics in Business & Enterprise Seminar In this seminar, we will explore advance topics in finance, organizations, management science, law and business, marketing, and decision theory.  Typically, the theme of the seminar will rotate yearly with odd years being finance oriented and even years being management science or leadership-oriented topics.  For AY23, we will explore the quantitative topic of venture capital and private equity.  The course will focus on the following four areas:  business valuation, financing, private and venture capital industry, and exit.  Class discussion, short lectures, individual research projects, and oral presentations will inform student learning experience.

Introduction to Business and Enterprise This course provides students who have little to no background in business with a broad overview of business and enterprise in the economy. Students will learn about types of enterprises and a functional framework for understanding a business, including strategy, finance, production, and marketing.  This framework will be used to analyze various businesses and non-profits, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of various structures. The course will give overviews of accounting and entrepreneurship, and explore policy and philosophical debates about the morality of for-profit business and the need for corporate responsibility.

The Diverse Workplace: Gender, Race and the Modern Corporation Knowing why and how to harness the power of human difference to facilitate human flourishing is a critical competency for leaders.  In this course we will learn about the challenges and opportunities of diversity.  This course has three components.  First, students will explore ways humans can advance in the modern workplace and how the roles of people of all genders must evolve in order to do so.  The second component centers on the issue of race in and at the organization/corporation (for-profit and not-for-profit).  And the third component relates to how workplace diversity is a valuable and strategic asset to the modern corporation.  Students will learn that organizations, too, are social actors.  As such, issues of gender and race shape organizations and their ability to obtain cultural, political, and material resources they need to survive—the organizing process.

Nonprofits & Civil Society Nonprofit and civil society organizations of all types play a crucial and growing role in the economy.  According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States today. According to the Global Journal, there are more than 10 million nongovernmental organizations worldwide. As the nonprofit sector has grown in scope and size, both domestically and internationally, the boundaries between for-profit, governmental, and charitable organizations have become intertwined.  In this course we will learn about the economics, history, governance, law, and structure relating to the nonprofit sector (also known as the Third Sector).

Tim Nguyen

Reviews and ratings for Tim Nguyen at Middlebury College.Tim Nguyen teaches Business Ethics, Public Management, Corporate Governance and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Tim Nguyen good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I took this class with Grove Nichols and Churchill Franklin. One thing I will say is they get amazing guest speakers, particularly if you are interested in finance. Classes are fun, material is interesting, and they make an effort to interact with students outside the classroom. 

Taking Business Ethics with Tim was incredibly enjoyable. I enjoyed learning about the topic and also his teaching style specifically. The course was made up of readings and then discussing them and discussing certain topics that Tim brought up. Each person had to do a presentation and one case study paper. The workload was not the worst and it's a class that I would definitely take again. 

This was a very enjoyable class to take. I loved having Tim Nguyen as a professor, and I felt that I had learned a lot from the course. The workload was very light. There were readings for homework, and in class, he would lecture and occasionally cold call. We had one major project, which was a presentation, but no other graded assignments. I would definitely take this class again.